Oh boy, now to figure out which book it was from. Since I have read them all, but a while back, remembering the specific one is very tough.
Guesses,
"God Bless you, Mr Rosewater"
"Welcome to the Monkey House"
Not "Cat's Cradle", pretty sure it's not "Slaughter House 5"
Maybe "SlapStick"
from Wikipedia about "Slapstick"
It is concerned with the life story of Dr. Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain. Dr. Swain is a nearly 7 foot tall man who, in close physical contact with his twin Eliza, forms a vastly powerful and creative intelligence. This intelligence goes on to create, amongst other things, a plan to end loneliness in America through the creation of vast extended families. Under the plan, all citizens would be provided with a fanciful middle names, paired with numbers.
Kind of along those lines, so I think the character made those other things like.
Mark